14 Phrases That Will Make You Swear Philadelphians Have Their Own Language

Philadelphia slang is its own language, I swear. Whenever I travel, I find myself trying to order hoagies or track down water ice, and I’m just met with blank stares. Other regions have their own slang, but I’m pretty happy with the way Philadelphians talk. After all, it seems like most of our slang is out there to make it easier on us!

Water Ice is a staple of summertime in Philadelphia, but it's another thing that's hard to explain to outsiders. It's not Italian ice, it's not a sno-cone... it's just water ice. The best places serve cherry with little chunks of cherries in them. And, as boring as it sounds, vanilla water ice is absolutely delicious.

Everyone in Philly "knows a guy." Whether you're warning your younger sister's new boyfriend, trying to convince a friend that you can get a task done, or trying to explain how you happened to get enough Sarcone's for the entire tailgate at the very last minute... "I know a guy."

At some point in our lives, we were taught to never end a sentence with a preposition... and then we immediately decided that the rule was not for Philadelphians. You won't hear "Where are you?" when your friends are trying to track you down. Instead, "Where yat?" or "Where ya at?" will be the phrase of choice.

Chocolate or rainbow, if they go on top of ice cream and they're oval shaped, they're jimmies.

How many of these Philadelphian words and phrases do you use on a daily basis? I wish the rest of the country could figure out how to use “jawn” without embarrassing themselves, it’s such a useful term…

Kim Magaraci is a freelance writer in the tri-state area who spends all of her time running around in circles so that her dog Wilco can have a better life. She loves all things Delaware and Philly... except scrapple. Contact: [email protected]